Each side the midway path there lay
Small broken crags of granite gray,
By time, or mountain lightning, riven
From summits clad in mists of heaven;
For where is he that hath beheld
The peak of Liakura unveil'd?
They reach the grove of pine at last :
"Bismillah! (26) now the peril 's past;
"For yonder view the opening plain,
"And there we'll prick our steeds amain :"
The Chiaus spake, and as he said,
A bullet whistled o'er his head;
The foremost Tartar bites the ground!
Scarce had they time to check the rein,
Swift from their steeds the riders bound;
But three shall never mount again :
Unseen the foes that gave the wound,
The dying ask revenge in vain.
With steel unsheath'd, and carbine bent,
Some o'er their courser's harness leant,
Half shelter'd by the steed;
Some fly behind the nearest rock,
And there await the coming shock,
Nor tamely stand to bleed
Beneath the shaft of foes unseen,
Who dare not quit their craggy screen.
Stern Hassan only from his horse
Disdains to light, and keeps his course,
Till fiery flashes in the van
Proclaim too sure the robber-clan
Have well secured the only way
Could now avail the promised prey;
Then curl'd his very beard (27) with ire,
And glared his eye with fiercer fire:
"Though far and near the bullets hiss,
"I've scaped a bloodier hour than this."
And now the foe their covert quit,
And call his vassals to submit;
But Hassan's frown and furious word
Are dreaded more than hostile sword,
Nor of his little band a man
Resign'd carbine or ataghan,
Nor raised the craven cry, Amaun! (28)
In fuller sight, more near and near,
The lately ambush'd foes appear,
And, issuing from the grove, advance
Some who on battle-charger prance.
Who leads them on with foreign brand,
Far flashing in his red right hand?
""Tis he! 'tis he! I know him now;
I know him by his pallid brow; "I know him by the evil eye (29) "That aids his envious treachery; "I know him by his jet-black barb : "Though now array'd in Arnaut garb, (6 Apostate from his own vile faith, "It shall not save him from the death: ""Tis he! well met in any hour, "Lost Leila's love, accursed Giaour!"
As rolls the river into ocean,
In sable torrent wildly streaming;
As the sea-tide's opposing motion,
In azure column proudly gleaming,
Beats back the current many a rood,
In curling foam and mingling flood,
While eddying whirl, and breaking wave,
Roused by the blast of winter, rave;
Through sparkling spray, in thundering clash,
The lightnings of the waters flash
In awful whiteness o'er the shore,
That shines and shakes beneath the roar;
Thus as the stream and ocean greet,
With waves that madden as they meet-
Thus join the bands, whom mutual wrong,
And fate, and fury, drive along.
The bickering sabres' shivering jar;
And pealing wide or ringing near
Its echoes on the throbbing ear,
The deathshot hissing from afar;
The shock, the shout, the groan of war,
Reverberate along that vale,
More suited to the shepherd's tale:
Though few the numbers-theirs the strife,
That neither spares nor speaks for life!
Ah! fondly youthful hearts can press,
To seize and share the dear caress;
But Love itself could never pant
For all that Beauty sighs to grant
With half the fervour Hate bestows
Upon the last embrace of foes,
When grappling in the fight they fold
Those arms that ne'er shall lose their hold:
Friends meet to part; Love laughs at faith; True foes, once met, are join'd till death!
With sabre shiver'd to the hilt,
Yet dripping with the blood he spilt;
Yet strain'd within the sever'd hand
Which quivers round that faithless brand;
His turban far behind him roll'd,
And cleft in twain its firmest fold;
His flowing robe by falchion torn,
And crimson as those clouds of morn
That, streak'd with dusky red, portend
The day shall have a stormy end;
A stain on every bush that bore
A fragment of his palampore, (30)
His breast with wounds unnumber'd riven,
His back to earth, his face to heaven,
Fall'n Hassan lies-his unclosed eye
Yet lowering on his enemy,
As if the hour that seal'd his fate
Surviving left his quenchless hate;
And o'er him bends that foe with brow
As dark as his that bled below.—
"Yes, Leila sleeps beneath the wave, "But his shall be a redder grave; "Her spirit pointed well the steel "Which taught that felon heart to feel. "He call'd the Prophet, but his power “Was vain against the vengeful Giaour:
"He call'd on Alla-but the word
"Arose unheeded or unheard.
"Thou Paynim fool! could Leila's prayer
"Be pass'd, and thine accorded there?
"I watch'd my time, I leagued with these,
"The traitor in his turn to seize ;
66 My wrath is wreak'd, the deed is done,
"And now I go-but go alone."
The browsing camels' bells are tinkling: His Mother look'd from her lattice highShe saw the dews of eve besprinkling The pasture green beneath her eye,
She saw the planets faintly twinkling: ""Tis twilight-sure his train is nigh." She could not rest in the garden-bower, But gazed through the grate of his steepest tower: "Why comes he not? his steeds are fleet, "Nor shrink they from the summer heat; "Why sends not the Bridegroom his promised gift?
"Is his heart more cold, or his barb less swift?
"Oh, false reproach! yon Tartar now
"Has gain'd our nearest mountain's brow,
"And warily the steep descends,
"And now within the valley bends;
"And he bears the gift at his saddle bow"How could I deem his courser slow?
Right well my largess shall repay "His welcome speed, and weary way."
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